Been playing Nier for 20hrs now and i am throughly enjoying the story and the relationships between characters,there are afew new ideas thrown in to the rpg pot,some work some dont,also the apperence of the old tiersome back and forth side quest that Square keeps hanging on to which is just lazy and anoying at times mar the experience but the plus points of Nier keep you playing long enough for you to become hooked to the story and see whats going to will happen next.Overall Nier is a good game and with its £9.99 price tag is a good enough distraction till some big hiters come out later this year.… Expand

2010 greatest gaming hidden gem. This game is one of the best, if not the best game to come out this year and deserves to be in ANY gamers collection.

One of my favorite stories in video game history, I have never been impacted so strongly by a story before, this game has characters that you can really bond to and care about unlike many games where you don't really care whether they die or not. The second time you play through the game it gives you such a different look on everything, I have never wanted to just let a boss kill me in a game before because I felt so bad about what I was doing. The sound is amazing in this game, if you take the time to listen to the soundtrack it is one of the best I have ever experienced in a game. In-game the songs can get a little repetitive but when actually listened to in full they are beautifully written. This game may not have the best graphics but I do think they fit the setting well. The gameplay is pretty good, I never really found myself mad about the controls or anything and the boss fights are generally pretty fun. Yes, the fishing part was stupid as hell but if you get past that one part you are good to go the rest of the game. The replayabilty is pretty high I would say, if you want to get the full story at least play it quick a second time, it will change you feeling about the entire game and you only have to play the second half again. Overall this is a great game and deserves a much better score than it has. Don't listen to the bad ratings when a lot of them gave up after an hour at the fishing part, if you give this gem a chance you will be thoroughly glad you did!… Expand

Nier is exactly what 3rd generation consoles needed. A relatively open world game with an awesome story and some awesome gameplay. It's just a shame the graphics (and at times the music) aren't up to scratch. Some will say this is a stylised look but it definitely could have done with a thorough polish. Otherwise, the game is so brilliant that I could only penalise 1 point. Definitely worth checking out. 9/10… Expand

This review would be an 8, if they had removed the fishing game. The problem with the fishing game is that it's part of the main quest, and thus you have to do it. The other problem is that everything the game tells you to do is absolute nonsense. The instructions on how to fish are wrong. The NPC telling you to "fish on the beach" doesn't mean the beach he's standing on. No, he means the beach on the far side of town. You find that out after failing for an hour, consulting an FAQ to learn how the fishing controls work (since what the game tells you is nonsense), then another FAQ to find out why you're getting the wrong fish. When not dealing with the absolute worst minigame in the history of RPGs, the actual game itself is pretty fun. It's a shame that someone in development didn't say "wow this fishing garbage sucks, let's scrap it." Less is really more here.… Expand

Nier isn't a best looking game alright. But if you can forgive the look of this game and get through the somewhat slow story-telling (and tedious quests) through a third of the story... you'll find yourself one great game of 2010. The story is interesting and never given anything out before the right time, you'll be adventuring in the shoes of the hero and his companions trying to save his daughter and his village without the clear knowledge of what's is happening in this cursed world, the truth will unfold itself slowly but interestingly and that's the beauty of this game. The gameplay mechanic is fine (standard control scheme for action/adventure game. the buttons layout is right and working fine) There are some jumpy and stiff animations and stuffs but the overall experience of the combat system is quite fluid and somewhat challenging when you face bosses or the more complicated enemies later in the story. There are some dumb platforming sections which are not really challenging but kind of annoying because you have to perform the jump and run in right spots and yes, you will fail. (but good thing is that the game doesn't have enough of them to make you quit) Art direction is the gem here. In some parts of the game when you entered building or structures, instead of a normal behind-the-character view... the camera will switch to fixed position (or fixed distance) while showing the interior from a cross-sectional view. This might look weird for gamers who grew up with FPS or TPS style of camera. But I found that it is a very nice decision and attempt to give players something fresh and different (but old-school RPG gamers will recognize this camera use is similar to old school Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest games) Nice voice casts and it has one of the most interesting set of characters too. The musics in Nier define one of the best scores in 2010 video games. The mixture between traditional JRPG style musics with somewhat New Age-esque tunes with touches of tribal vocals will draw you deeper into the world of this game (of course if you are the kind of gamers who think music is an important part of story-telling). Although this is not gonna happen but I strongly think that musics of Nier should put the game up as one of the candidates for 'Best Original Sound Track of 2010', that's how good the musics in this game are. If you're always on the look for hidden gems, Nier is one of them.… Expand

This game gets awful and great reviews at the same time, I was rather curious as to why it did and picked it up myself to see what the story is with it. The game is an action based JRPG that is somewhat reminiscent to Drakengard and also looks a bit like God of War - but in a nutshell it's actually quite a great game if you can look past its flaws; Playing through it I got addicted to it after the first real boss fight and can safely say the story, music, and voice acting is quite superb if you don't mind the outdated looking graphics and getting thrown all over the place in combat. The game has dropped in price recently and if you're looking to get a new game for unusually cheap, i'd say Nier is worth a try.… Expand

Nier is a solid action game with a decent combat system, a compelling story, and only a few significant flaws. The gameplay itself is nothing special: use melee weapons and magic attacks to hack, slash, and/or shoot your way through hundreds of enemies to victory. The melee part of combat is the sort you would expect from games like Elder Scrolls 4, where you repeatedly attack enemies as quickly as possible in hopes of dealing out the most damage the soonest. It's really the magic attack part of the combat that truly shines. Using a rebounding energy bar, the damage range of magic attacks is quite large, spanning from machinegun like projectiles to giant black spears to a ginormous band of fists, all of which can be summoned at your beck and call, provided you've discovered the ability and have enough reserve energy. Many of these attacks seem brilliantly overpowered, though this will only add to your enjoyment as you blast and/or pummel your way through hordes of enemies in quick succession. Most of the magic abilities you have must first be found by going throughout the game's several environments and unlocking spells called Sacred Verses during certain missions in the first half of the game's main story. Which leads me to my next subject: the environments. While Nier is heavy on backtracking (the second half of the game has you returning to locations introduced in the first half) the locations themselves are lifelike and diverse. Most mission levels are well thought out enough that such backtracking is not a problem, but one location in particular (a robot factory) will always take you about five times too long to get through, and you end up going there not one but four times. But aside from this, the game is wonderful to explore, with other levels such as a desert, a dream forest, a village on the side of a massive cliff, and a few others. The storyline of the game is nothing truly stellar, but definitely engaging enough to provide the incentive you need to get through the game. Taking place 1312 years after the fall of human civilization, a horde of monsters called Shades are wrecking havoc on the last remnants of those who managed to survive. You take the roll of a middle aged father named Nier, who's daughter has fallen victim to a strange illness called the Black Scrawl, and unless he can find a cure his daughter will be lost forever. His quest leads Nier upon the aforementioned environments and sets the premise for the first half of the game. The story is far from predictable however, and at both the halfway mark and the ending you will stumble upon twists that will be truly unexpected. The ending sequence, unfortunately, is a bit much to get your head around, and in order to understand all of what's going on you will have to use the New Game + feature to complete the game not twice but four times to unlock the three bonus endings. The storyline is compelling, but unfortunately not so much as to warrant that much replayability. Regardless, it does work well enough for one playthrough, and at between 15 and 20 hours in length that is enough to satisfy myself, as well as most other players. To sum up, I do recommend this game to anyone who loves JRPGs. It is a decent game with only a couple of noteworthy flaws (primarily its reliance on backtracking) that are balanced by engaging gameplay, a lush and believable world, and a compelling story. You will find it a worthy addition to your gaming collection.… Expand

It's one of the best games I have ever played!The atmosphere and story are incredible!The fighting is very addictive.Do yourself a favor and buy this!

Not nierly as good as I thought it might be. Too linear, too generic, too JRPG cheesy for my tastes. Nothing to see here folks, move along, move along.

Truly the best RPG of 2010, with characters, story and music among the best of the genre and solid zelda-like gameplay with a Bullet Hell twist. It's deep, meaningful, artful, and ballsy. It's Nier.

NIER is a game that should not be missed by gamers looking for a unique storyline with engaging characters and well written plot. The delicious gooey center of great storytelling is housed within a hard shell of mediocre gameplay, but those willing to brave the lackluster controls, quest system and combat will reap some impressive, and emotionally heavy, moments.

wastelander u r just a bad player thats it u know.. dont flame games u cant play because you are to bad for them.. nier is one of the best games Ive played on x360.

The underdog of the decade, Nier does things and goes places that would be considered beyond risky for most developers, and if handed to any publisher in its base form they'd be insane not to shoot it down. And yet, here it is, un-intruded-upon by outside interference and stunningly brilliant in every understanding of the word. Nier is the wonderfully-told tale of a tragedy on a massive scale, and yet it is the individual characters and their humorous interactions which carry the day - and connected to those characters you will doubtlessly become. A must-play for those seeking something breathtakingly original and painfully ignored.… Expand